Latest news with #ChevroletChevette
The Province
08-08-2025
- Automotive
- The Province
Meet Vancouver's most loyal pizza delivery guy — and his trusty, no-frills ride
Charlie Cowley, who has been delivering orders for Minerva's restaurant for almost four decades, estimates he's clocked 500,000 km on his Chevette Charlie Cowley and his 1982 Chevrolet Chevette. Photo by Arlen Redekop / PNG He is known as The Legend. Like every superhero, Vancouver pizza-delivery guy Charlie Cowley has a vehicle with superpowers: A two-door, 1982 Chevy Chevette. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors It doesn't have performance, advanced technology or bat wings, but it does have durability, character and a certain no-frills cachet. Cowley, 69, has been delivering pizza, steaks and souvlaki dinners for Minerva's Restaurant in Kerrisdale for 37 years. The car's odometer only has five digits, but Cowley estimates he has clocked over 500,000 kilometres in the Chevette. 'Maybe nobody thought it would last this long,' he said. He had it painted GM factory orange after the original silver paint wore off. His friend, Art, helps him find the increasingly rare parts that keep it on the road. 'He's the unsung hero in all this,' said Cowley. The car is so eye-catching, Minerva's customer Brent Butt, of Corner Gas fame, once came running out of his house in excitement when Cowley pulled up with a delivery. Stay on top of the latest real estate news and home design trends. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'He'd been looking all over for one for a film,' said Cowley. 'But it was too late.' Cowley's trusty '82 Chevette doesn't burn rubber or pull any fancy maneuvers on the road, but it gets the deliveries to the doors — and that's where the magic happens. Dennis O'Reilly, a retiree, and his wife in Dunbar are regulars. They have been ordering from Minerva's and taking deliveries from Cowley since he started there in 1988. Their usual is a large pizza — half Minerva's Special, half pepperoni, mushrooms and peppers. That Cowley arrives with clockwork reliability — car shining, smile beaming, bag of good food in hand year after year, whatever the weather, political or social climes — means something to O'Reilly. It's something about community, says O'Reilly. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He shows up, no matter what, in good humour. 'It's remarkable,' said O'Reilly. 'After so many years, we look forward to him coming every week.' Cowley feels the same way about his regulars. 'The best part about the job is when I walk up the driveway and see their eyes light up,' said Cowley, who is part of a team of four delivering for Minerva's. 'We get paid by the hour, and tips are a bonus,' said Cowley. He covers his own gas — premium, because the Chevette's engine suffers from run-on when he uses the cheap stuff. Charlie Cowley says one of the best parts of his job is walking up his customers' driveways and seeing their eyes 'light up.' Photo by Arlen Redekop / PNG Now that the credit card machines have pre-programmed tips of 18, 20 and 22 per cent, he occasionally has to gently let a client know that when they manually plug in the number 15, it sometimes rings up as 15 cents, not 15 per cent. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. One customer who ordered every day, would tip 1 cent one day, 2 cents the next. Cowley doesn't hold a grudge. 'Now there is a delivery charge, so maybe he thought that was a tip,' said Cowley. Occasionally, he gets a big spender. A $100 tip on a Super Bowl order, or $20 on a $10 order. Like any celebrity, he gets recognized from time to time. A stranger in a supermarket once yelled out, 'Hey, I know you,' and announced to everyone within earshot, 'This guy's a legend!' For years, Cowley had a uniform, as recognizable as any superhero garb: Duck-themed T-shirts. ' What the Duck?' 'Duck off.' 'No Ducking Way.' But it got to him. 'When they start calling you Ducky, it's time for something else.' Now he scours Value Village for T-shirts with images of cars. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The delivery business is challenging these days, what with SkipTheDishes, DoorDash and Uber Eats all competing for a slice of the pie. But Cowley wouldn't dream of leaving Minerva's for a crack at the gig economy. 'Nope,' he said. 'It's about the people you work with.' And besides, he doesn't have a smartphone. He would have to learn to use an app. He's got his route, and his regulars — the ones whose eyes light up when they see him — and it feels good. 'I delivered to them, and then I delivered to their kids. They are my friends.' When he's not delivering Greek and Italian dishes for Minerva's, Cowley builds 1:8 model cars and trucks. He has had to move recently, and rentals are more expensive, so he's in a Burnaby studio, where he can't really spread out. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I usually work on a model for a couple of hours before work, and then until 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. when I get home, but I don't have enough room for that now,' said Cowley. Charlie Cowley estimates he has clocked over 500,000 kilometres in his Chevette. Photo by Arlen Redekop / PNG He was hoping to retire, but since the downturn in the economy, that is out of the picture. 'I was hoping to slow down a little bit, but with the economy it's tougher these days,' said Cowley. 'The car is feeling its pains now too.' But Cowley has learned a thing or two over the years about keeping the faith, words only a legend can deliver to the rest of us about life: 'Just be a good person, and things will work out.' dryan@ Read More Sports Vancouver Canucks GlobeNewswire Vancouver Whitecaps News
Car and Driver
14-06-2025
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
No Mere Chevette: 1987 Pontiac T-1000 on Bring a Trailer
In the 1980s, Pontiac built excitement! But they also built this. The T-1000 was Pontiac's version of the Chevrolet Chevette, GM's most humble economy car. This example is fairly loaded, but it's more remarkable just for still existing. A T-1000 is relentless. It doesn't get tired. It doesn't sleep. It will never stop until—oh hang on, that's the one in the movie Terminator 2. In this case, it's an economy-minded Pontiac hatchback, and we've said hasta la vista to almost all of them by now. But not every single one. Bring a Trailer This rare find on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos) is a 1987 Pontiac T-1000. With just 68K miles on the odometer, it's a time capsule; it's of the right age to have been driven to watch Arnold Schwarzenegger firing off one-liners on the big screen. Bring a Trailer Pontiac's tagline at the time was "We build excitement," and never was that more true than with the T-1000. Sorry, never was that true of the T-1000. With a 65-hp 1.6-liter four-cylinder and a three-speed automatic transmission, this was one dog-slow Pontiac. Remember that part in T2 where Robert Patrick runs fast enough to catch up to a car, while dressed as a police officer? He could probably catch this thing without breaking a sweat. Bring a Trailer Having said that, cars like the Chevette and this Pontiac clone were part of what made up the driving landscape in the 1980s and early 1990s. In fact, this humble little car might have a potential career ahead of it on the silver screen. Not as a hero car, no, but anyone looking to set a period piece set between 1985 and the late 1990s might just need a common-at-the-time compact car for background work. A couple of gigs, and it'll pay for itself. Bring a Trailer This final-year example has a little wear here and there but is well optioned for its breed. It has power steering, cloth-trimmed seats, an AM/FM radio, wheel trim rings, and even air-conditioning. Recent work is said to include a new timing belt and a rebuilt transmission, although it's said to be slow to go into reverse. And there was some collision damage noted from three decades ago. It's not a concours car, but what Chevette-based Pontiac was ever going to be? Instead, it's a little throwback time-traveler with inexpensive running costs that won't terminate your wallet. No problemo. The auction ends on June 18. Brendan McAleer Contributing Editor Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki's half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels. Read full bio
